Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Tapestry of Souls
is the latest solo release from professional guitarist Chris Bickley, released
on Shredguy Records. From the start of the album, with the first few notes of
“Race Car Guy,” you know this is going to be filled with some serious riffs and
leads. Chris Bickley’s songwriting skills are top notch, if not slightly dated.
I only say “dated” because it has that late 1980s Yngwie Malmsteen kind of
vibe going on. He knows all the right places for hooks that snag your brain and
won’t let go.

The only area that I feel the album falls short in is the vocals.
There are four songs that feature vocals and, to be perfectly honest, none of the
vocal stylings really grabbed me. In fact, most of them turned me off to the
songs that they were a part of. It’s a shame that it had that effect on me
because the songs themselves were really well written and executed, but
something about them each time just didn’t sit well with me. Sometimes it was
the sound of the person’s singing voice, other times it was their tone or
delivery.

From an instrumental standpoint, this is a really strong recording and
I urge fans of guitar-centric Rock to check it out. You can find more
information, or buy the CD, at http://chrisbickley.net/